LYDIA TOOK THE BAIT without skipping a beat. She believed I had been to the hospital for an appointment and she didn't question me over it either. It was a win-win and the both of us just put our energy into getting ready. I still wasn't in the mood to party though and the more I thought about werewolves and Scott the more I wanted to go home and get into bed. It made me anxious to think about Scott being a supernatural creature and who had bitten him. It was apparent now it wasn't a deer that tore into him that night.

It was a werewolf.

I humoured Lydia with her girl talk and gossip as I altered my appearance somewhat. I didn't put much makeup on, I never did and certainly not as much as Lydia wore. I dotted concealer under my eyes, put on winged eyeliner, mascara, a bit of blush and a coat of pink lipgloss on to my lips.

My friend convinced me to let her curl my hair and she did, finishing it from start to finish in a record time of ten minutes, and then the two of us headed to her closet to find something to wear. She found herself a dress and suggested I wore a deep red romper that she had never worn before.

I took the outfit apprehensively and tried it on. It would never be my first choice but Lydia did have fashion sense and I trusted her vision. The romper suited me more than what I ever thought it would and it was comfortable too, I paired it off with some of her shorter heels and by the time we had gotten downstairs ready to party half of the lacrosse team was already here.

I watched the large group of rowdy boys toast with shot glasses in their hands before they all took the drink down in one. I watched as Jackson picked up the cheap bottle of unlabelled vodka and started pouring a second round as Lydia smirked at him, twirling a strand of hair around her finger as she walked over to him, "Room for two more?" She posed.

Danny turned to look at her but instead saw me. He motioned me over while smiling and I walked over to him, leaning on the white marble worktop besides him with a small smile. I didn't have plans to drink tonight, I wasn't really up for it but I suppose one or two couldn't hurt anybody. It might help me to take my mind off Scott too.

"Hey, you look hot." Danny said to me with a grin as he looked at my outfit.

"You think?" I asked with an arched brow.

"I know." He nodded before he leaned in a little closer, "And so does every straight boy around this table." He said to me quietly.

"Mmmm, that's nice." I replied disinterested as Jackson passed him two full shot glasses over.

"You're not interested in scoring tonight?" Danny asked me, "I could be your wingman?"

I shook my head with a tired smile, "Thanks for the offer Danny but I'm sorted for tonight I think." I said to him, "Not particularly interested at all."

"You got it." He nodded, "I'll be your cockblock instead. Any boy looking your way and I'll send them in the opposite direction."

I chuckled under my breath and nodded, picking up my glass and clinking it against Danny's, "Sounds like a plan." I nodded.

"Cheers!" One of the boys on the team called and we clinked our glasses together before taking the shot. I grimaced as the cheap alcohol burnt my throat and I placed the glass on the counter only to have Danny refill it again.

I looked to him and shook my head but he protested before I could even open my mouth, "Let's just have fun, no boys tonight."

I sighed as I shook my head at the bad influence. He only smiled at me innocently, his glass in one hand and the bottle of vodka in the other. I picked my glass up and nodded, "To no boys." I toasted. The both of us crossed our arms together and downed the shots in one like you would.

Music started playing loudly around us as I put my glass on the table again and a large group of people filed in through Lydia's front door. It didn't take long for the house to fill up completely and then everyone piled outside by the pool, each with a red cup in their hands.

Danny and I lost our willpower to take it easy pretty quickly and after a couple of more shots we took a bottle of rum to share between us. We danced outside, stuck in the crowd of people and my friend stuck true to his word. He cockblocked me whenever a lacrosse boy or any boy for that matter tried to make a pass on me and I thanked him each and every time.

I couldn't drink the rum we had taken after a while and every sip made me feel like I was going to be sick.

I spotted Allison and Scott together about an hour and a half after I had taken my first shot and they seemed pretty happy together as they danced. It was sweet to see them together but as I looked up to the sky to see the moon was full I pressed my lips together. He clearly hadn't listened to Stiles, whatever he had said to Scott, and the last thing I wanted was to see my friend turn into a werewolf in front of all these people.

The notion promoted me go grab the bottle of rum from Danny's hands and take a long swig of it. He chuckled as he watched me drink, "Woah, Alex, hold up you're gonna finish it off." He said to me, reaching for the bottle once I brought it back down from my lips. I nodded and passed it off to him, ignoring how lightheaded I went.

"I'm fine." I passed off, looking to my friend honestly. It didn't take long before I felt all right again and Danny's drunk hazed eyes met mine as he frowned.

"Are you drunk?" He asked me, "You seem sober, hey, maybe you should finish the bottle after all."

I shook my head at the offer. I didn't feel drunk and I think the only reason I went lightheaded was because of how quickly I had knocked my head back. I felt steady on my feet, my vision was clear and my head felt clear but for the amount I'd had to drink I should've at least been tipsy if not borderline drunk by now. Danny was a head taller than I and he was slurring his words. How was it that my friend who was taller and bigger than I was drunk and I was stone cold sober?

But I wanted to be drunk. At the start of the night not so much, but now knowing I was still sober I wanted nothing more than to be swaying on my feet and giving in to the way alcohol controlled my body and actions. I took the bottle from Danny's hand seeing there was a quarter left of the alcohol and without even thinking twice I brought it up to my lips and started gulping it.

"Alex!" He laughed but I ignored him, taking sip after sip.

Danny's loud call of my name and his proud cheers gained the attention of other party-goers cramped up against us and a chorus of "Chug, chug chug!" started around me. I assumed the chant was for me as people turned to watch me drink a quarter of a bottle of rum in one with no mixer and when the last drop of the alcohol rolled down my throat I pulled the empty bottle away from my lips and wiped around my mouth.

People cheered around me and I nodded once, passing the now empty bottle back to Danny. He thrust it up in the air, tipping it upside down to prove there wasn't a drop left and I watched him.

My problem? I didn't feel the slightest bit different.

I know that alcohol took at least a half hour to get through your system but I'd been drinking for a while now and I felt no different. Now instead of feeling drunk I just felt overwhelmed by the crowd of people around me, I was sweaty and the bodies pressing against me made me feel irritated. I and even though I was outside I felt like I needed air, maybe inside the house was less crowded than what it was out here.

"Hey." I called over the music to Danny. He paused his triumphant cheers for me and met my eyes, "I'm gonna head to the toilet, shouldn't be long."

"Okay." He nodded, "Bring me another drink please?"

"Yeah, sure." I smiled and turned away from him, pushing my way through the crowds of people. I'd give it a few minutes before Danny forgot about where I'd gone and because of that there was no need to hurry to bring him another drink. If and when I returned outside I'd bring one with me to give to him.

Inside was still crowded but there was no where near as many people in here as there was outside. It was somehow cooler in here and I welcomed the cold air on my skin as I leaned on the kitchen island. I picked up a bottle of vodka and frowned when it felt light in my hands, I looked through the top of the bottle to see it empty.

I sighed and put it down, staring at the counter top blankly. I didn't really want to be here anymore, I wanted to go home and to bed. Maybe the fact that I was still stone cold sober had killed my mood, I don't know, but I didn't want to be here anymore.

I grabbed my phone from my pocket and checked for the time, it was past eleven and I chewed the bottom of my lip. I could get a ride with Stiles but that would mean me having to find him and I hadn't even seen him tonight. He said he was coming but whether he did or not I wasn't sure. I looked around the kitchen, eyeing the faces of people I didn't know for him but I couldn't see him.

Instead I pushed off the counter and I searched around the house, in the hallways and living room before heading into the dining room to check but I couldn't spot his face anywhere. I sighed and headed back outside one last time, trying to rake my eyes through the ridiculous crowd of people but as I searched I couldn't even find Scott and Allison.

I took my phone out again and texted Allison.

'Are you still here?'

While I waited for her response I looked around one last time, I could see Jackson kissing Lydia rather passionately while he pushed her against the wall and I looked away from that area quickly. I couldn't see any of the three people I was searching for.

My phone buzzed in my hand and I unlocked it to read Allison's reply.

'No, I left. I'm sorry we didn't get chance to talk but Scott just ran off, I got a ride home from one of his friends.'

'Oh, it's fine. Did Stiles give you a ride?'

As I pressed send I looked up to see a boy stood in front of me. He was a litter taller than what I was and he had mousey brown hair that was slightly curly. He had green eyes and a couple of freckles on his face and he smiled at me, "Hi." He partially slurred.

I smiled nicely at him, "Hi."

"I'm Brian." He introduced and I watched as he swayed somewhat to the left.

I nodded, "Alex."

"Yeah." He replied confidently, "Jackson told me after I said I thought you were hot. I'm on the lacrosse team with him."

"That's nice." I nodded again, smiling sarcastically at him. I wasn't trying to be mean I just didn't want to talk to him, especially while he was drunk. As I Danny and I said tonight, no boys and it was for a reason. I just wasn't interested at the minute.

"So you're, like, new aren't you?" He asked me, closing one eye.

He seemed pretty drunk.

"Uh, not exactly." I shook my head, looking down at my phone, "I lived here before I just—"

"—Did I tell you I'm on the lacrosse team?" He interrupted me with an arched brow.

"Yes." I replied slowly, furrowing my brows.

"I'm first line." He plugged, leaning closer towards me.

God where was Danny to cockblock when I needed him?

"Good for you. My best friend is first line." I replied, leaning away.

"I was first line last year too." He told me, "I'm a midfielder. Do you know what a midfielder does?"

"Yeah, I'm not stupid." I said to him. I was becoming less and less interested. All he wanted to do was plug himself up to me, maybe he thought I'd be more interested in him if I knew he was on the lacrosse team but I honestly wasn't bothered.

"You're hot." He said to me suddenly, changing the subject again. He'd already called me hot once and I just nodded as he took another step, "I think we should go on a date. Or we could just go upstairs now? It's completely up to you, I know I'd rather just go upstairs."

I rose my brow at his words and tried not to let my disgust show on my face. That really was charming and as hard of an offer it was I was definitely going to have to pass up on it.

Note the sarcasm there?

"Yeah, I'm good thanks." I said to him with a single nod.

"Why?" He asked, frowning, "I'll take you someplace nice. We can go bowling or to the—"

I can't believe he thought I was passing on the date. I pressed my lips together in an attempt to keep my cool and when my phone buzzed in my hand and I looked down to see Allison's reply.

'No, someone called Derek. He's
a friend of Scott's right?'

My brows furrowed, unsure of why Derek was even here tonight to be in the position to take Allison home. Whatever, I'd think about it later I just wanted to find Stiles for now.

"I'm sorry." I said to Brian, smiling half heartedly at him, "But I've got to go."

"Oh, see you in school tomorrow?" He asked me.

I furrowed my brows but I nodded, he'd be the only person in school tomorrow given it was Saturday tomorrow but oh well. I just walked away from him and back inside Lyida's house, I passed through the kitchen heading for the front door when she intercepted me. I frowned at the door, seeing it only a few meters from me but Lydia snapped her fingers in front of my face, "Alex?"

"Yeah, sorry, what's up?" I asked her, looking to her.

"Uh Brian?!" She said incredulously, "You just completely bummed him off."

I shook my head, "The guy's wasted Lydia."

"But if he was sober?" She asked me, arching her brow.

"No." I shook my head immediately, "No way. All he cares about is lacrosse."

She shrugged nonchalantly, "At least he's on the team."

I wanted to think that was a sly dig at Stiles for not being first line but I honestly didn't think she even knew his name. I ignored her words and shook my head again, "No, Lyd, I'm not interested all right?"

She furrowed her brows in a disbelieving way, "Really?"

"Yeah." I nodded, "Honestly, bottom at the list of my priorities right now."

"Only if you're sure because there are—"

"—It's fine." I said to her with a smile, "I'm gonna go home, all right? But I'll text you tomorrow."

"Okay." She nodded, "See you later."

I half expected her to call me a buzzkill or something for leaving early but she didn't seem to mind I was turning in so early. I walked away and outside finally, exhaling in relief. The cold air was nice on my skin and I walked towards the end of the driveway. There was only four or five people out here and I opened my call log and pressed on Stiles' contact name.

I wasn't surprised when he picked up before the second ring and his voice greeted me, "Hello?"

"Hey, are you at the party?" I asked him, folding my arm across my chest.

"I was but I had to leave. Scott wolfed out."

My eyes widened, "You mean we were right? He's actually a werewolf?"

"It sure looks that way." He scoffed, "I thought about looking for him but he could be anywhere. He thinks Derek is the one who bit him and killed the girl too."

"You're joking." I spilled out, my eyes almost falling out of my head. I shook my head, "No, there's no way."

"It's just what he said to me." He replied, "Where are you?"

"Stood at the end of Lydia's driveway. I was actually wondering if you could give me a ride?" I asked, "But if you're at home then it's fine."

"Alex?" He asked me.

"Yeah, what's up?"

"Turn around."

I turned around, facing the road and I saw him parked up on the side. He pulled his phone away from his ear and smiled at me as he hung out his open window. I dropped my phone from my ear and smiled at him.

"You look nice.. really nice." He said to me, stuttering somewhat over his words. His eyes were a little wider than usual but his smile was bright as he saw me.

I nodded and my smile broadened, "Thank you."

"So.. you need a ride?" He asked me with a grin.

______________

Let's just say I hardly got any sleep on Friday night. After Stiles had picked me up from Lydia's he explained to me how he had gone to Scott's house when he saw him leave the party so quickly. When he got there he said Scott had apparently transformed — or shifted as he called it — into a werewolf and jumped out of his window having found out Derek took Allison home.

So, Derek is apparently a werewolf too and the one who bit Scott and killed that girl the both of them found in the woods.

Stiles and I spent the night looking for Scott, just driving around town to see if we could find him and it was well into the morning when we did. It was purely coincidental, we decided to call it a day on our search and head back to Stiles' place for some sleep when we passed Scott walking down the main road by the preserve.

We picked our friend up where he told us Derek was a werewolf, took him home and then we retired to Stiles house. The both of us crashed as soon as we walked into his room and I woke up at three o'clock in the afternoon, still in my outfit with Stiles jacket on and he was zonked in his desk chair.

I went home on Saturday night and nothing was said between my dad and I. It's not like I was expecting a conversation out of him to be honest and instead I just headed upstairs to my room and spent the time talking to either Allison or some friends from San Francisco on the phone.

In the back of my mind though I was thinking about the revelation of Derek being a werewolf. Had he been one of them when I knew him? When I spent almost every day with him and his family six years ago? Or had he been bitten just like Scott?

My friend said he thought he was the Alpha so he'd of been the one to have bitten Scott.

It didn't make much sense to me and I found it quite hard to wrap my head around. I wanted to talk to Derek and ask him about it all but I wouldn't even know where to find him so that was out of the window.

By the time Monday morning rolled around and Stiles had picked me up for school I'd about figured it out. It was hard for me to concentrate that day though and I wasn't sure how I'd been roped into staying back and hanging with Lydia in the library after school but I had.

I forgot that lacrosse practice was after school on a Monday and I had to wait for Stiles to give me a ride home anyways but sitting in the library wasn't how I wanted to pass my time.

"I'd much rather be watching practice, Lyd." I moaned to my friend in annoyance, leaning forwards on the wooden desk as she sat opposite me.

"And I'd much rather study." She replied, looking up from her book, "Please, Alex, we can watch practice next week."

I nodded and sat back in my chair as I watched her gaze focus back on the book she was using to study from. I'd seen her pick it up from the shelf, it wasn't even content we were covering this year — in fact it was stuff you learnt in senior year. My friend was independently looking at an AP mathematics book designed for senior students and we were sophomores.

"How come you're looking at senior stuff?" I asked her curiously, dipping my head into my hand.

Without taking her eyes from the text book she replied, "Mr. Raymon suggested I should have a look.. here I am."

"Mr. Raymon only teaches senior classes." I said, frowning in confusion.

"So?" She asked me, her eyes flickering up to me.

I just shrugged in response before replying, "You must be super smart if you understand any of that."

"It comes naturally." She replied nonchalantly, "It's nothing really."

Here she was, my friend playing off how smart she truly was. Lydia was clever when we were in middle school, she used to be able to complete any problem thrown her way in any class without skipping a beat. She'd do my work for me while teaching me herself how to do it in class and once we were finished we'd spend the rest of the lesson chatting.

She was so brainy yet she played it down, pretending she wasn't as smart as she was by pulling off this whole innocent, dumb blonde thing and she wasn't even blonde.

I just nodded in response, humming to myself as she switched the conversation off of her intellect, "So about that boy on Friday night—"

"—Lydia, I already told you I'm not interested." I interrupted her, "All he cares about is himself and lacrosse."

She arched a brow at me, "I was talking about the boy that picked you up." She replied.

"Oh." I muttered, "Stiles?"

"That's his name?" She asked me slightly incredulously as she rose both brows, "Well then."

"What about him?" I replied.

"What's your deal?" She pursed, "I saw that he gave you a ride today."

I nodded, "Yeah he's taking me home too." I replied, "But he's my best friend.. and Scott of course."

"Right." She nodded once, "And Scott is the boy who Allison likes? The one who ditched her."

"That's him." I said, sighing lightly, "But she's given him a second chance apparently, texted me a five minutes ago and told me."

"That's good for him." She replied, "I honestly didn't know either of them existed though until the other day but you and that Stile guy seem close."

"It's Stiles." I told her, "With an S."

"Oh right." She nodded, "But you guys are just friends?"

"I—" I arched a brow at her as she questioned me, "—Why?"

She shrugged, "Just curious. Allison mentioned she thought you liked him and he seems pretty in to you. I guess I'm just wondering whether to throw any other lacrosse boys your way or to give it a rest."

"Give it a rest." I replied instantly, "Please. I don't— look, if I wanted to be in a relationship I'd go looking for one but I'm all right for now. As for Stiles, we're just friends."

"Okay." She nodded.

I groaned in exasperation, "You don't believe me do you?"

"No." She replied honestly, "I think you're not sure what's going on and that's okay, best to be sure about it before you commit."

"Yeah well ever since Allison mentioned it to me it's kind of been on my mind." I grumbled.

"Do you want to talk about it?" She asked me, putting her pencil on the table and giving me her full attention.

I shrugged, not knowing what I even had to say, "He's my best friend." I said to her, "And I've been back in town — like — ten days."

"Do feel attracted to him?" She asked me.

"It's not all about looks, Lydia." I shook my head at her.

"So you don't?"

"I didn't say that." I replied, "I think.." I sighed deeply in thought, "I think he's cute, yeah, and I like being around him. I thought it might've been awkward between when I moved back given it'd been so long but it wasn't — isn't — it's like I never left."

"It's definitely a weird one." Lydia said to me, dropping her head to the side as she pondered, "Do you think he likes you?"

"I have no idea." I said to her honestly, "The only thing I can think of is that I stopped at his the other night and when I woke up we were cuddling."

She nodded and I watched a smile break on to her face. Her eyes twinkled and I braced myself for what she was about to say to me in response, "Who was spooning who?"

I rolled my eyes, "He was spooning me."

"So you stopped at his house and spooned." She nodded, "Doesn't sound like something friends would do."

"We didn't fall asleep like that." I said to her, "We were just talking and I laid down, he was supposed to be sleeping on the floor but.."

"He woke up with you instead." She said softly.

"He doesn't know."

I didn't miss as her brows creased together and she looked at me with genuine confusion, "He doesn't know you were cuddling?"

I shook my head, "At least I don't think he does. I moved before he woke up because I thought he would flip out."

She nodded and pursed her lips, "I guess you could just play it out." She said to me, "See how you feel in a few weeks or so and if you feel any different talk about it. If not just leave it and then you'll know for sure."

"Yeah." I nodded, "Yeah, okay."

She smiled at me before her phone buzzed against the wooden table several times. What I thought was a phone call turned out to be a series of text messages and when she picked her phone up I watched as her lips parted in shock.

"What's wrong?" I asked her.

"Jackson's hurt his shoulder at practice. He has to go to the hospital, looks like I'm going to have to take him." She replied, her eyes still on her phone screen.

"Oh.. shit." I said to her, "What happened?"

She pressed her lips together before looking to me, "McCall." She spoke, her words explaining it all. Scott and Jackson must've gone head to head. My friends new found strength against Jackson's competitiveness didn't sound like something good and I only nodded in response.

"Let's go then." I said to her, grabbing my bag from the floor and standing up.

She gathered her things and looked to me with pleading eyes as we exited the library, "Come with me to the hospital." She said to me, "Please."

"Honestly?" I said to her, meeting her eyes, "I love you but I couldn't think of anything worse."

She groaned loudly in annoyance. My friend knew I was right, taking Jackson to the hospital sounded painful, probably more painful than what he was actually experiencing and I didn't want to be there unless I absolutely had to.

Thankfully for me I didn't have to be there and while some people would've nodded and agreed to go I wasn't going to say yes to Lydia and put myself through the torture of sitting with them in the emergency room.

I would much rather go back to Stiles' house and hang out with him instead.

I swallowed as I walked down the empty hallway, Lydia's words of complaint mute in my head. Perhaps I did see Stiles and I's bond more than just a friendship.

_____________